


baby, you're a haunted house.

by strangely_ethereal



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Angst and Feels, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-13
Updated: 2018-11-13
Packaged: 2019-08-22 23:32:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16607507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/strangely_ethereal/pseuds/strangely_ethereal
Summary: in which a serious discussion between mike and el leads to mike confessing his true feelings.





	baby, you're a haunted house.

**Author's Note:**

> I suck at writing but I reALLY want something similar to this to happen in s3 so bad, so I took a shot at writing this. El opening up to Mike about her past is definitely one of my mileven wishes because I feel like they'd have that ultimate emotional connection then. Enough rambling, I hope you like this! <3

Mike and El were nestled together on the couch in the Wheeler basement, El resting on his lap, their chests pressed together as they breathed in unison. His arms were wrapped around her under the fuzzy, warm blanket they were sharing, and her arms lazily circled his shoulders as they slept in peace. Mike with leaning his head back against the sofa, and El with her face buried against the crook between where his neck his, and his shoulder starts. All soft snores and murmers as they dreamed, E.T. playing in the background on the TV.

\--

"Eleven, you will do as you are told!" Brenner yelled in a cold, scarring voice. His scowl and harsh aura making her shake and her lip quiver as hot tears build in her eyes. 

She turned to the cat sorrowfully, feeling sympathy for the cat who was about to get killed by her. Her. She was a monster. She'd killed so many people, so many small animals starting with squirrels. Why can't she kill this cat, then, she had thought to herself as she desperately tried to channel the wavelengths of her mind to the crying cat. 

That was enough for her. She gripped the electrodes off of her head and threw them down against the hard, cold tile floor. She looked at Brenner with sad eyes and shook her head, indicating that she would not kill the cat. Brenner pursed his lips together and gave the small girl a disapproving look before commanding the guards, "put her in the room." 

Her eyes instantly filled with fear and she curled up into the chair, gripping the back of it so tightly that her knuckles turned white. Her breathe was shaky, and she trembled as the guards got closer to her, soon gripping both of her arms as they forcefully attempted to rip her off of the chair. "NO!" she yelled in agony, tears streaming down her face as she struggled against their grip. "PAPA, PLEASE!" She sobbed as her arms grew weak and then she was being carried off into the dark hallway. "NO, LET GO OF ME!" She tried as best as she could to fight against the guards, her arms and legs wailing. "PAPA!" Her voice cracking as they brought her closer to the cold, dark room. She could see from the corners of her eyes the man who raised her, the man she called papa, not give a single care in the world that she was being thrown into this hell hole. The door shut, and though she knew Papa wouldn't come back for her, she had a sliver of hope that maybe, just maybe, he would this time.

\--

"El, please wake up!" Mike cried as he gripped her arms with his fidgety hands, trembling as he couldn't shake her awake from the nightmare.

"ELEVEN!" He yelled once more, until her eyes finally shot open and she jumped up in Mike's lap, anxiously looking around her to see if she was still in the room. Then and there, she burst into cries and dropped into his touch, leaning against his chest as her shaking body was clinging to Mike once again, fingers holding tightly to the front of his Star Wars shirt. She knew then and there that it was all just a dream.

She tried her best to ground herself, but her breathes were becoming shorter, and her chest felt like it was tightening. 

"El, please. I'm here. It's Mike." Mike's voice was cracking as tears were building up in his deep, brown eyes. One arm was wrapped around her shaking body, while the digits of his fingers were running through her wavy, short, sun-kissed hair. 

El's panicked state calmed down as Mike whispered sweet nothings against her forehead, gently rocking her side to side. 

"Everything is okay. You're right here. With me. Mike. We were watching a movie, remember? W-we we're watching E.T. and then we fell asleep." Mike's voice slowed down as she started to calm down, having had it sped up as he was desperately trying to calm her down. Though he was still stumbling over his words as he was trying to think of all the right things to say.

Mike often did this technique with El as a grounding method when she was having one of her panic attacks. He would repeat his name and recall the previous events that happened before she'd had a meltdown. Him holding her and giving her soft kisses on her forehead, helped too. 

Sometimes she just needed to be alone. There were times where she had gone through an episode and shouted at Mike to get out of the room or to not touch her. She always felt guilty and called Mike up on the supercom that she didn't mean anything that she said. And you know what? Mike understood. Mike always reassuring her with that soft, deep voice of his that he knows that her feelings were just jumbled up and she was panicking. 

El eventually stopped crying and she laid limp against Mike as she sniffled and evened out her breathes. 

"That's it.. there you go, love.." Mike whispered against her hair, rubbing her back with both hands rhythmically. 

"Bad dream.." She croaked out as she sat up slowly in his lap, wiping her dewy eyes. 

"Yeah, you were calling for him.." Mike said solemnly as he reached his hand up to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. 

She sat there silently, contemplating her dream as she fiddled with the hem of Mike's shirt between her fingers.

"U-um.." Mike croaks nervously, "D.. Do you wanna talk about it?" He looked up to examine El's face. Blotchy and tear-stained cheeks. Runny nose. Eyes red and shiny from leftover tears. But he was able to look passed that. Behind those sad eyes were big, beautiful, brown doe eyes that had golden flecks in them. He saw the dimples on her face whenever she laughed at him when he got ice cream on his nose. 

Her lip quivered at his question, and as soon as he saw the tears build up again, he instantly spoke up, "I mean, you don't have to, El. I completely understand if you don't-" 

"Mike."

".. Yeah?"

"I want to talk about it this time. I.. I want you to know everything. Because I trust you." She met with his eyes, speaking with determination in her voice, even though it was shaky.

Mike felt his own tear ducts fill up at this, a smile etching his pink lips and stretching across his freckled cheeks. He just couldn't believe how strong of a girl she was. How she lived with painful memories everyday and managed to still light up a room with her presence, even on her darkest days.

"How about I go make us some tea before we talk?" Mike asked as he searched her eyes. 

"Chai?" El asked hopefully, a small grin forming.

Mike leaned down and brushed his nose against her's until she giggled wildly, tossing her head back until he was laughing with her.

His laughing calmed down and he looked down at her with love and adoration. "Of course. Just for you." He leaned in and gave her cheek a small peck before lifting her off of his lap, and getting up to go get the chai. 

\--

Mike came back with two hot, steamy mugs in his hands and bent over to set them down on the coffee table in front of the couch. "So..." He started as he sat down, looking over to her.  

El looked to Mike before looking down and taking a deep breathe. "I'm sorry. I just don't know where to start." 

Mike rests a comforting hand on her shoulder, looking into her brown orbs.  
"El there's no need to apologize. Take all the time you need, alright?" 

She nods and looks down at her clammy hands for awhile before speaking up. "I was taken when I was just born. They covered up my death and well.. you know what happened to mama.." She trails off. 

Mike nods as his eyes sadden. Hopper had opened up to him about her mother when he found out her real name, Jane. He liked Jane, but he gave her El, and that was special to him. El agreed and only wanted to be called Jane in public settings for security reasons. 

El paused for a second to gather her thoughts into words. "I didn't start getting experimented on till I was about.. maybe five or six years old. It started with small things. Just lifting simple items like books and pencils." 

"By the time I was nine, they had me kill me things. Squirrels, birds, any type of animal." She let out a shaky breathe. "It's something I definitely regret. But.. if I didn't do what I was told.."

Mike scooted closer to her and held her hand, thumb rubbing over her knuckles. He was ready to hear the worst. He knows damn well how bad she was treated from day one because of how scared and mute she was. 

"I was thrown into this dark room. It was cold a-and.." El's voice started to break up and tears started to slowly roll down her cheeks. Mike instantly pulled her into his arms and reassured her, "Hey.. hey.. El, it's okay if you want to stop talking-"

"N-no," She whimpers as let's out a cry and buries her head into his chest and starts to sob. 

Mike pulls her into his lap once again, and she cries into his shoulder. He can feel her tears and snot getting onto his shirt, but he doesn't care. 

"El, you're the strongest woman I've ever met in my entire life.." Mike has tears of his own building up as he speaks between choked words. 

"And don't you think any less, okay? You deserve better childhood memories. You deserve better than that worthless piece of shit." His words started to become more frantic as he spoke, and El lifted her head to look up at his equally tear stained face. 

Mike lifted his hands to her cheeks and wiped her tears with his thumbs. "You were ripped away from all the happy things in life. And for that, he WILL pay." He says with harsh determination, but soft enough so that it's reassuring for El. 

El slowly lifted her hands to cover the ones that were cupping her cheeks. 

"El..." He breathes out before swallowing the lump in his throat. "I want to kill him."

El didn't think twice or blink an eye before saying, "Me too." 

Mike rests his forehead against her's and closes his eyes before he scoffs. "I don't think I could even if I tried.. I'm just a scrawny nerd..." He trails off, opening his eyes as he lays his hands limp to his sides. 

El sees as the insecurity fills his eyes, and she cups his cheeks this time, looking into his eyes. "You are NOT just a scrawny nerd. Who told you that?" 

"People from school..." Mike purses his lips. "Dad..." He mumbles out. 

"They're mouthbreathers, Mike. People from school and your father don't know the truth." El says softly, running her thumbs over his star spangled cheeks. "You're my hero."

Mike laughs. "No, El. You're MY hero. I could've died when I jumped off that cliff, but.. you saved me." 

El immediately gets a flashback to that day, the day she saved Mike from the cliff. How he'd been so willing to do that for his best friend. 

"But you took me in. You saved me from him." She rested her forehead against his once again, and looked into his dark orbs. 

"I guess we saved each other, huh?" Mike whispers as his eyes flutter closed, his long eyelashes hitting his high cheekbones. 

El closes her eyes soon after him, and tilts her head. 

Mike feels her breathe on his lips and he knows what she wants. He meets her halfway and softly meets her lips with his, his hands lifting up to rest on her waist. Her hand goes to his heart, and she feels his heart beating out of his chest. 

After a few seconds they barely pull away to look into each other's eyes. They're all red lips and blown pupils, and before they know it, they're kissing again, but it's a little different than the kiss in the cafeteria or the kiss at the snowball or any of the small pecks they shared. 

This one is filled with compassion and understanding. This one was fueled from they're emotional understanding of each other. They're lips slowly move together as they figure out how to finesse the tilt of their heads and where their noses go. Nonetheless, they bump noses a few times and that leads to a giggle fit between the two. 

They calm down and look at each other with crimson cheeks and burst into the biggest grins. 

"I think I liked that kiss better.." El says bashfully. 

"Yeah, me too." Mike looks down shyly and smiles. 

Mike and El bask in their quiet moment, El curling her fingers around his dark locks and giving him small pecks on his nose, all which make him as red as a tomato. 

Mike thinks back to all the memories they've shared, all the ups and downs. From teaching her what chocolate pudding is, to what friendship is. From finding her on Mirkwood, to falling in love with her and losing her for 353 days.

Wait..

Falling in love?

This thought makes Mike's heart pound through his ears and he tenses in El's touch. El picks up on this and her eyebrows dip in confusion.

"Mike.. What's wrong?"

"Wh- Oh! Uh.. Nothing. Just thinking..." He says cooly, drumming his fingers on the side of his leg nervously.

"About?" El smiles, her features etched with curiosity. 

"Nothing.." Mike mumbles.

El hits his shoulder playfully and gives him a glare. "Mike, friends don't lie." 

"I know! I know.. I just..." His cheeks go back to a crimson color and he looks back into her golden eyes. 

"Do you know what love is?" He asks, his voice cracking.

"I think so.. It means you really like something.. like.. I love Eggos." She smiles. 

"Kind of.. I mean, that's right but.." He sighs in frustration. 

Suddenly he gets hit with deja vu.

\-----

"You go to school dances with someone that.. someone that you.. like." 

"A friend?"

"No, not a friend.. someone like, uh.."

\-----

"There's different types of love." 

El readjusts herself on his lap and looks up to him in curiosity, eager to learn new concepts like always. 

"The first is like.. platonic love. Platonic means it's friendly. Like, I love all of the party. Lucas, Dustin, Max, Will. It can also be parental love, like.. Will's mom loves Will. My mom loves me. That type of thing." He trails off. El nods and continues to listen.

"The second is loving non-living things like Eggos." He grins down at her and she smiles knowingly.

"Like.. I love D&D. And I love the arcade. Those types of things." He concludes. 

"Third.. is well. Different." He knits his eyebrows together and thinks of how to subtley tell her how he feels.

"It's between two people. Generally boyfriend and girlfriend..." 

"We're boyfriend and girlfriend." El grins. 

Sometimes hearing her say that stuns him because he just can't believe how nerdy Mike met this cool, telekinetic badass. 

He grins back and nods. "Yeah, we are." 

He sighs heavily before explaining again. "When boyfriends and girlfriends have reached a certain point in the relationship... they start to realize that.. it's more than just liking." He bites his lip out of nervous habit and his eyes glance to her's nervously. 

Her eyes searches his, entranced by how beautiful his eyes are. She swears he's like the night sky. His deep eyes being the sky and his freckles being the stars, and his porcelain skin being the moon. 

"And well.. you'd do anything for the other person. You.. you bring the best out of the other person and inspire them to become better." He gives her a small smile. 

She smiles back, feeling some sort of tension building up in the air. Not a bad tension, but a tension she's chasing. 

"El..?" 

"Yes?"

"I love you." Mike says confidently, eyes still glued to her's.

"I love you too, Mike.." She breathes out, finally feeling the tension go away. 

Mike pulls her in for a hug, and she instantly wraps her arms around his shoulders, tightening the hug. 

"You're my bestest friend, El.." He whispers against her neck.

"Forever and always...?" El whispers back.

"Forever and always.." He lifts his head and places a kiss on her lower cheek, making El's cheeks bloom into a peachy color. 

"Oh shit, the tea!" Mike shout whispers, causing them to both burst out into laughter.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked it and I'm open to feedback! :)


End file.
